By Daisy CL Mandap
Christmas Day came with bad news for all travelers
arriving in Hong Kong from abroad. Everyone must now spend 21 days in hotel
quarantine, instead of just 14.
The move was gazette by the government late on
Dec 24, and took effect from the first hours of today, Christmas Day.
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The government also banned people who had stayed
in South Africa for more than two hours on the day of boarding, or 21 days
before, from entering Hong Kong.
This was after a new, more infectious mutation
of the coronavirus similar to the one found in Britain earlier, was discovered in
South Africa.
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All flights from Britain were earlier barred from entering Hong
Kong, while passengers who were able to enter the city between Dec 2 and 23
became the first to be told to spend 21 days in hotel quarantine.
In addition, all passengers who arrived in Hong Kong between Dec 2
and 24, must undergo a third Covid-19 test on the 19th or 20th
day of their arrival, and should remain in isolation until the test result is
known.
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The government said in a press release that while the World Health
Organization has said that the incubation period of the coronavirus is 14 days,
there is currently no evidence to show how long patients infected by the new
variant will remain infectious.
But since experts believe that there is a small number of
patients whose incubation period is longer than 14 days, and since more and
more mutations of the virus are being discovered all over the world, the
government felt it necessary to strengthen border control further.
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This is meant “to ensure that no case would
slip through the net even under very exceptional cases where the incubation
period of the virus is longer than 14 days,” said the statement.
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| Chuang and Lau reporting on the latest Covid-19 situation |
Earlier, Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan from the Centre for Health Protection said that the government was seeking more information from the WHO about the South African variant which is believed to be more transmissible, especially among younger people.
But she noted
that Hong Kong has not had any imported cases from South Africa lately.
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She made the
statement during the daily press briefing on the Covid-19 situation, during
which she reported 71 new infections. Sixty-one of these were locally acquired,
with 30 from an unknown source.
The 10
imported cases included three young returnees from Britain who all tested
positive while in quarantine. The patients, who were all asymptomatic, are aged
14 (M), 16 (F) and 18 (M).
The others
are two returnees from the United States, aged 25 (F) and 80 (M), a 38-year-old
woman from Indonesia, a 19-year-old female from Turkey, a 30-year-old male from
Pakistan, and a 36-year-old man from Serbia.
Three more
confirmed patients passed away over the past 24 hours; a 77-year-old man,
92-year-old man, and a 86-year-old woman. They brought the death toll in public
hospitals to 131.
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Of the 985
patients still being treated in 23 public hospitals and the community facility
at AsiaWorld-Expo, 61 are in critical condition, 61 are seriously ill, and 863
are stable.
Chuang
advised people to remain vigilant and not take part in social activities over
the Christmas holidays, as infections had already been detected from family
gatherings during the winter solstice earlier this week.
“We found
many cases because of gatherings on the 20th and 21st,”
she said.
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Because of
the celebrations we found quite a number of cases in family clusters. So try to
avoid large gatherings as much as possible to prevent cases in the coming days,”
she said.
Dr Lau Ka-hin
from the Hospital Authority said compassionate visits by family members to
elderly patients may have to be curbed after a convalescent 95-year-old man who
had previously been hospitalized, tested preliminary positive for the virus in Buddhist Hospital.
The patient was admitted to Queen Elizabeth Hospital on Dec 9 and tested negative. He was transferred to Buddhist Hospital on Dec 13 where he developed a fever, and tested positive in a test.
Three
patients receiving palliative care at United Christian Hospital also tested
preliminary positive. Again, the source of infection is believed to have come
from outside, likely by family members who were allowed to visit and check on
the patient’s condition.
Lau said hospitals will now be very strict with compassionate visits. Only family members will be allowed to visit a patient, and this should be for no more than 30 minutes. Relatives should also refrain from feeding the patient.
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